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POLITICO 44

The sudden interest in financial ethics comes after Bachus, who sat in on high-level financial bailout meetings in 2008, was profiled in an unflattering new book and a companion “60 Minutes” piece on potential insider trading in Congress. Bachus’s new bill would require lawmakers to put their investments in blind trusts.

But here’s the kicker: The punishment for breaking the blind-trust rule, if it was enforceable, would be a $50,000 civil penalty — reminiscent of paltry pro-football fines that for years made after-the-whistle cheap shots on the quarterback seem worth the price.

Fine print aside, what the Bachus measure really shows is just how sensitive members of Congress have become to the public perception that they use their offices for personal gain. It’s just one of a bumper crop of feel-good ethics bills that have popped up as Congress’s approval ratings have cratered around the 10 percent mark.

Some lawmakers see this as a critical moment in trying to regain the trust of voters.

“We cannot survive as a democracy unless there is more confidence in our elected officials than there is now,” Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.) said Tuesday at a Financial Services Committee hearing on the STOCK Act, which takes a different approach than the Bachus bill to preventing insider trading on Capitol Hill. “The first step to restore their trust is to be trustworthy.”

But are these types of bills going anywhere? Not likely — many don’t stand a chance of passing, but they make for good press release fodder.

Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Ark.) introduced a bill just before Thanksgiving that would end the congressional pension system for new members and force current members to opt-in if they want to continue to accrue benefits; Illinois Republican Tim Johnson’s “STAY PUT” bill would enact a moratorium on lawmakers using public money to take foreign trips; Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) wants to require members of Congress to disclose any tax liabilities so that their wages can be garnished; and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) wants to crack down on pay raises and foreign trips.

That’s the same McCaskill who used public funds to pay the costs of flights on a private plane that she and her husband co-owned with other investors. After POLITICO questioned McCaskill about the arrangement in March, she decided to reimburse the Treasury $88,000. Later that month, McCaskill announced that she would pay $287,273 in back taxes on the plane.

Readers' Comments (22)

Congress has provided for itself a wide array of privileged and exclusive "entitlements" that insulate members from the financial experience of average Americans. We need to develop a common and non-partisan platform for the major overhaul of Congressional compensation and perks to require that members of Congress live within the same financial rules and conditions as their constituents.

OWS should become OD.C. and protest all of the "entitlements" that Congress bestows upon themselves at the exclusion and expense of taxpayers. OD.C. should call for change that aligns Congressional financial incentives with the majority of constituents. Here is a starting point.

INSIDER TRADING: address "congressional knowledge" and ban all asset and property transactions related to non-public information. Apply the laws that apply to the rest of us. Financial assets can be placed in blind trust while members of Congress are "serving the public".

RETIREMENT: eliminate Congressional pensions and exclusive savings plans so members rely on IRA and Social Security and personal savings & investments, like the majority of Americans.

HEALTHCARE: require all members of Congress to access whatever insurance and facilities are available in their home state, under the same rules as their constituents.

BASE SALARY: paid by their home state, based on median wage (1.5X?), and subject to voter approval. Base salary increases (or decreases) with median wage - no more automatic and self-awarded pay raises.

HOURS OF WORK: put in real full time work, or receive lower pay for less work.

ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW: individual "report cards" with legislative activity and voting record, meeting and travel disclosures, budget disclosures, sent to all constituents and posted on web site PRIOR to election.

CAMPAIGN FINANCING: public financing from their home state. Eliminate fund-raising activities and use the time for legislating and serving constituents instead.

OPEN PRIMARIES: allow every voter to register independent and vote for whomever they like, regardless of party affiliation.

LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS: ban gerrymandering and use objective third party or arm's length process for drawing legislative districts.

LOBBYING: ban the "revolving door". Require a 3 year exclusion period for government officials to become lobbyists, and 3 year exclusion for lobbyists to become government officials. Require full public disclosure and complete transcripts of all meetings between lobbyists and Congress.

RESIDENCE & EDUCATION: require members of Congress to live within the boundaries of their legislative districts and enroll their children in their local public schools for K-12.

About time we start talking about real solutions to this problem. The other bills floated about wouldn't change a thing. As a low level employee at an investment bank I am subject to strict trading restrictions. It infuriates me to no end that I am subject to such draconian policies while members of congress are given free reign. Members of congress have no need to be trading period. Blind trusts is the way to go.

Now we just need to give it teeth. Breaking this law should land any lawmaker in prison for a few years of "networking". This paltry $50,000 fine is an insult to Americans.

Why wait for new laws? Since insider trading is illegal now, and representatives and senators are subject to current insider trading laws, let's begin several criminal investigations. For example, how did Bachus, financial committee chairman, make five-figure profits in a matter of hours back in 2008? What information did he have as committee chair? Did he make any trades involving that information? Criminal investigations and the accompanying publicity might put an immediate damper on a lot of the dubious Capitol Hill trading. (But they should keep working on those laws, too, and put more punitive teeth in them while they are at it.)

So here we have shocked outrage by some politicians pandering to a lazy press with rip and read press releases filled with high sounding phrases followed by a hallway sound bites doing nothing to solve the problem. They. too, have have wallowed in the swamp and are guilty. How McCaskill can say what she does with a straight face demonstrates how they lie to the votes and abuse their power in the next room. In pre-revolutionary France the nobility knew that they were born above the rabble and didn't care. Our politicians today bought and sold their way to their perks because the voters don't do anything to stop it.

Ethics investigations that take lifetimes and result in a time out in the corner followed by a portrait in the hall. They show us nothing but contempt. Ok, little person, I issued a press release on that horrible fact and voted against it before I voted for it. Now go away and let me be privlidged.

Many leading Democrats such as Pelosi and Bachus have used their political power to make money for themselves. Gingrich has also used his political power to make millions for himself. With Obama pushing his redistribute the wealth Communist policies, let's see if Team Obama targets those that are destroying America's free enterprise and freedoms. Mitt Romney believes in America's future.

Let's vote Obama, Baucus and Pelosi out of office. And not vote Gingrich back in.

What's a repug to do? Their party gets blasted yet again for the dual sins of 1) taking advantage of the law and making money from improper transactions and 2) being religiously and morally upright. The repugs don't know how to get out of their problem. Well here's a suggestion, either give up taking advantage or give up the religiosity. One or the other.

But repugs can't. They can't make the choice. Look at the repug presidential field and you see the same effect. Right now the religious repug want Gingrich, the most immoral person to be in politics since Hitler. But to the repugs, so what? They can put their morality on hold and vote for a philanderer, a thief and a draft dodger since he is no Obama.

My GOP Congressman signed the "Pledge of Allegiance to Grover Norquist". I didn't vote for Grover, but he owns my Congressman. Question is: Who owns Grover Norquist?

If every "Tea Party" candidate is GOP, and every GOP is owned by Grover Norquist, then what is the difference? What is the point of Tea Party other than to retrieve wayward uneducated constituents who continue to vote against their own financial interests - and mine? The 2010 Tea Party candidates promised to focus on JOBS! Instead, they came in to obstruct the other party and cut social programs and make the Bush Tax Cuts permanent. GOP is so hellbent on this mission that they undermined America's credit rating to get it done. Who owns these people? What do they get in return for pledging allegiance to Grover Norquist? They certainly don't represent the majority of their constituents, even though we pay their excessive compensation. Voters, please wake up. Find out who really owns your candidate BEFORE casting your vote.

Something the article fails to mention, is that the book profiled MANY more Dems engaged in this tactic than Republicans, And that Speaker Pelosi was the Queen of the House in such scams.

Irrelevant. Both parties are guilty of these behaviours. Holding the ideology responsible for the actions of the individual is pointless. We should purge those that act in bad faith, and allow the ideology to fail on its own merits.

What's a repug to do? Their party gets blasted yet again for the dual sins of 1) taking advantage of the law and making money from improper transactions and 2) being religiously and morally upright. The repugs don't know how to get out of their problem. Well here's a suggestion, either give up taking advantage or give up the religiosity. One or the other.

But repugs can't. They can't make the choice. Look at the repug presidential field and you see the same effect. Right now the religious repug want Gingrich, the most immoral person to be in politics since Hitler. But to the repugs, so what? They can put their morality on hold and vote for a philanderer, a thief and a draft dodger since he is no Obama.

And aren't we dems glad he isn't an Obama.

Both parties of this are guilty of this behaviour and anything we can do to help bring some level of transparency to our body politic is a good thing. Solely blaming one party or the other for taking advantage of the system is primarily disingenuous. There is a reason why I am not a Democrat, it's because I don't think or act like a democrat, so why would I subscribe to an ideology I wouldn't agree with?

My GOP Congressman signed the "Pledge of Allegiance to Grover Norquist". I didn't vote for Grover, but he owns my Congressman. Question is: Who owns Grover Norquist?

If every "Tea Party" candidate is GOP, and every GOP is owned by Grover Norquist, then what is the difference? What is the point of Tea Party other than to retrieve wayward uneducated constituents who continue to vote against their own financial interests - and mine? The 2010 Tea Party candidates promised to focus on JOBS! Instead, they came in to obstruct the other party and cut social programs and make the Bush Tax Cuts permanent. GOP is so hellbent on this mission that they undermined America's credit rating to get it done. Who owns these people? What do they get in return for pledging allegiance to Grover Norquist? They certainly don't represent the majority of their constituents, even though we pay their excessive compensation. Voters, please wake up. Find out who really owns your candidate BEFORE casting your vote.

Greed Obstruction Plutocracy killed the middle.

Please. What sort of stupid analogy is this? You live in the US as a citizen and owe taxes and the like for that condition and you are also an individual. Do you or does your government own you?

Grover Norquist is fairly irrelevant, the point being that he subscribes to an idealogy that tea partiers tend to agree with. Saying they're pawns of Grover Norquist is like saying you are pawns of Barack Obama. Neither is true and is purely trying to score political points. The sad discourse of politics where you say you are 'owned' by one entity or another is one reason why we are failing mightily to close the rift in idealogical assertions by the left and the right. Grow a pair and state what you believe and let it stand on its own face instead resorting to childish tactics of innuendo.

As Mark Twain said, paraphrasing, there is no criminal class except for Congress. Palin brought that up. "Throw 'Em All Out" does a great a great job exposing all the corruption on both sides of the aisle, the majority being Democrats despite 60 Minutes inclusion of a lone Democrat, Pelosi. So many politicians - on both sides- are guilty of crony-capitalism with large campaign contributions from tax-exempt corporations. Contrary to the understanding of those 'standing with the 99%,' Washington has no intention of fixing any problems within Wall Street - they've been in bed with them (on both sides) for decades if not centuries, and have rigged things in the personal favor of their insider trading. Michael Moore is even turning on Obama on the revelation that Obama has had more Wall Street donations than all the GOP candidates combined! You can check that out at http://www.realclearpolitics.c... We absolutely need to look for politicians - on both sides- who recognize the culture of corruption in Washington bringing us headlong into financial crisis, and who have the character to withstand Washington's corruption and change things for the citizens of the country. We shouldn't be distracted by the partisan bickering in Washington and be partisan ourselves, that will hardly help the problem.

It never ceases to amaze me how some Democrats will just shout the same talking points over and over without looking at facts, and without looking at both sides of an argument. There is plenty of flip-flopping and corruption with Democrats too. Partisanship causes blindness on both sides. You've got to read both sides anymore to get a good idea of what's really going on, because both sides leave stuff out. The liberal media does count on its followers being mind-numbed enough to not think for themselves, however.... It is your duty to be a well-informed voter, not a brainwashed and partisan voter. I'll go even further: to really understand the conservative movement, you've got to listen to (or read) Rush Limbaugh for at least a couple weeks. The 'conservative' media isn't always.

The delayed reporting of securities transactions by congress, defeats, obstructs, and impairs its use as timely evidence. This is why no Congress people were investigated under the current law. The insider trading loophole, is that congress uses time to hinder prosecution and cover things up. The SEC cannot have adequate enforcement without prompt disclosure. They will not disclose information that can be used against themselves in time, that it will be of any use to the SEC. People calling for longer disclosure times probably just want more time to cover corrupt activities, and have more time to destroy evidence.